Sore Stomach Muscles

There can be several factors which can cause sore abdominal muscles. Nonetheless, the strain it causes in people's daily activities can leave them quite incapacitated. While minor soreness is often experienced after a grueling session of workout, it usually does not occur among seasoned athletes. Some even experience soreness as a result of coughing excessively.

It often happens that those who do not warm up properly before working out or playing an exhausting game end up suffering from a bad stomach cramp. However, seasoned athletes and players do not experience such problems.

The reason being that they warm up their muscles before beginning their exercise regime, which thereby helps induce flexibility and elasticity in the tendons, the blood vessels and the muscles.

Similarly, people complain about soreness after running, especially those who play, run or workout after a long break of not exercising, even though they may have warmed up before starting the workout.

Soreness after running or any other strenuous activity occurs because the body has been in a sedentary mode for a long time and any sudden muscle activity will not be well received by the body.

Which is why, the player must begin by warming up and playing for very short periods during the first week, by which time the body would have regained some of its previous flexibility and stamina in order to go further in the game or workout.

Pregnant women often complain about soreness in stomach by the time they are into their 13 week of pregnancy. This is also the duration when the belly begins to grow and show substantially.

The reason behind the sore stomach is the simple fact that the muscles within the abdomen are being stretched so as to make space for the uterus and the unborn baby to grow comfortably. The ligaments, the blood vessels and the tiny veins along with the abdominal muscles are all being stretched, due to the biological changes taking place within the body.

This pain usually feels like the one experienced after a heavy workout. However, there is nothing to worry about as this pain is a natural part of pregnancy and usually reduces to quite a large extent by the time the baby is quite developed.

The only way to reduce the soreness is to do mild stretching exercises as these will release endorphins and adrenalin, which numbs the pain and makes you feel refreshed and lighter. The baby will experience similar positive effects as well. Secondly, a mild warm dip in the tub can do great wonders in alleviating the soreness.

A mild oil massage on the belly with lukewarm oil also helps diminish the pain. While sleeping, place a soft pillow under the belly on the sides so that the stomach is protected. The best advice is to wear loose fitting clothes so that they do not cling to your stomach.

Coughing exerts a lot of force from within the body. It blocks air within the lungs, relaxes the diaphragms, clamps the throat, stresses the stomach muscles and then leads to the rapid exhalation of all the blocked air within the lungs.

However, when done excessively, especially during a viral fever or after a bad bout of cold and cough, this pain can be exceedingly painful and can cause soreness in the chest as well. The reason being, the excessive coughing has caused the abdominal muscles to weaken, similarly with the diaphragm.

This causes more pain and discomfort during coughing. This also causes the throat to hurt and get more sore with each bout of cough. Similarly, the stomach can feel sore after vomiting because the stomach walls contract or squeeze inwards, which causes sudden spasms and pain.

The only remedy for this stomach pain is to wait for the cough to disappear completely, while the throat and the lungs can be given some bit of respite through cough syrups, etc.

Among other causes, women experience stomach cramps and soreness during their menstrual cycles. This occurs due to the hormonal changes within the body. Many women experience soreness after their pregnancy is over.

This too has a logical conclusion, being that the body has undergone severe trauma during the delivery, during which time all the muscles in the abdomen got further stretched and pulled. As and when the stretched muscles repair themselves, the soreness will reduce accordingly.